>> hello, coming up on aljazeera. the power struggle in burkina faso, the military backs a new leader. >> millions left without power in bangladesh. >> in brazil, sao paulo

experimenting with battery powered buses that could change transportation here. >> kurdish peshmerga forces from iraq have now joined the battle against isil in the syrian town of kobane. they're helping the hundreds of syrian kurdish and other opposition fighters who are already there. the iraq kurdish peshmerga forces crossed the border on friday. we have more from the turkey-syria border. >> we are a few kilometers away from kobane where the sound of sporadic fighting and shelling has persisted throughout saturday. behind me is one entrance through the town from turkey where the iraq kurdish peshmerga forces crossed over late friday and early hours of saturday bringing with them much needed reinforcements for the syrian kurdish fighters who have been combating isil. the peshmerga forces when

entered stationed themselves mainly in the western part of the city. they brought with them semi pickup trucks that were essentially carrying heavy weaponry like anti aircraft guns and rocket launchers, bazookas and the like. these were weaponries that the syrian kurdish fighters belonging to the ypg and allies from free syrian army had been calling for several weeks to say that they needed in order to swing the battle in their favor away from the advancements of isil. as it stands now, both sides continue to hold the positions they held prior to the peshmerga forces entering with one side that is isil side controlling the eastern and southern parts of kobane and those who have been defending it against isil advance, holding the southern and western side of the town. >> in syria, the al-qaeda linked

nusra front have taken control of a town, saying it's now in charge after five days of fighting. >> to burkina faso now, the army says its backing lt. colonel as a transingsal leader. the former president who resigned friday after protests has arrived in neighboring ivory coast. we have the latest >> it may be a reflection of the fact people finally know who is running the country. presidential guard said he is now head of state.

>> while we wait for a consensus by the people and all political parties, i will take responsibility for the transitional group. >> the army says he has its backing. >> the milling tear hiring arcky of the consultation with the army are in forming the nation and international community that lt. col. has been he elected unanimously to lead the transitional period. >> so far there's been no reaction to that statement. the general announced friday he would lead the transitional government, but others have welcomed the news. >> the lt. colonel has the situation under control. when the declaration of the general happened, the people continued to protest, particularly the youth. in the end, it was the lt. colonel who declared himself and i think most will back him. >> it was the former president's

attempt to extend his 27 year rule that sparked days of protests. demonstrators stormed parliament and set it on fire. the president's resignation was welcomed by many. he has left behind a country that faces an uncertain future. >> it's not just its african neighbors watching, it's also the united states and former colonial power france. both of them have military ties with the country. it lice between mali in the north and west and nigeria to the east. both of battling al-qaeda linked fighters. the former president positioned himself as a strong local

mediator. >> professor can the university of brussels and author of several books on burkina faso says a quick transition does look possible. >> first, they were explaining that they would try to organize an election in the next 60 days. i think it will be very difficult to organize this on the ground. i mean, they have to set up some committee and concretely make this possible. for this, i don't know exactly how long it will take, but there are clearly some tradition to make the process going as fast as possible, because nobody wanted the military keep the head of the state longer, so other people in the streets for

days, and the civil society organization, human right organization, trade union will be extremely vigilant in order to ensure that the military power will just ensure the transition and not keep the power. >> the power has been partly restored across bangladesh after a nationwide blockout that happened after transmission linebrinking power from neighboring india failed. millions were left in darkness. we are in the capitol. >> this is a man on a mission for the hospital, to bring diesel back to hospital so it can continue to treat hospitals. the hospital has been functioning on a power generator since 11:00 a.m., because a technical failure resulted in the entire national grid of bangladesh shutting down. the problem now is that everyone

is running out of fuel. the entire country of 150 million people have been affected by this blackout, and while many of the neighborhoods, especially the ones that are industrial centers or home to upper middle class households have been throbbing with generators, they are running out of fuel. this gas station has no diesel left. all these people have been coming to them to keep the lights on. the fear in the back of everyone's head is that what happened if the national grid problem is not resolved in the next few hours and the generators die? >> in yemen, at least 10 soldiers are killed in fight, al-qaeda. they are engaged in battles in the districts in the western province. there has been siting with houthi rebels. at least five people were killed in those fights. reports suggest the houthis attacked the political offices

and then detained at least three party members. >> there are reports of egypt's military bam barredding and clearing abandoned northern sinai areas to make way for a buffer zone with gaza. the campaign was brought forward after 33 soldiers were killed in an attack in the area last month. the military said it will stop gun rung from gaza from underground tunnels. some people have been forced from their homes. >> eight egyptian men have been given prison terms over a video of a gay wedding on the internet. the men were sentenced to three years in jail, charged with inciting debarbry and offending public morality. the video shows what prosecutors say was a gay wedding ceremony, the two men in the center kissing and exchanging rings. >> aljazeera continues to demand the immediate release of its three journalists who have now

been detained in egypt for 308 days. the three are wrongly accused of helping the outlawed muslim brotherhood. aljazeera rejects the charges against them. >> november 2 marks the u.n.'s first international day to help impunity for crimes against journalists. human rights and press freedom groups have been meeting here in doha to talk about press safety and they've made a renewed call for the release of aljazeera staff. >> it's unfortunate that the aljazeera journalists, like other journalists are paying the price for their work. they are professional journalists that should be allowed to work. governmentses should solve these problems outside of taking it out on journalists. don't let them in your country or let them go home but don't put them in prison and use kangaroo courts and totally

unjustifiable reasons to put them in jail. >> boko haram released a new video denying it's agreed to a ceasefire with the government, ruling out future talks saying no negotiations are currently taking place. he easy said that the 219 school girls that were kidnapped in a i were have been converted to islam and married off. >> today you claim we made a truce with you. in what way did we make a st. louis what kind of negotiation and with whom? your envoy and in fidel like you will not be spared and will be dehe capitated if he falls into our hands. what negotiation? we did not negotiate with anyone. this is a lie. it is a lie. we will not negotiate. what is our business with negotiation? allah said we should not.

>> the relatives are devastated. >> this is shattered hope, the insult and advocates of people struggling for these girls to be back. we have received the ceasefire announcement with caution, because of the previous arrangement that did not translate to having these girls released. today, even after we've questioned the issue of ceasefire because of how the government handled it, coming out a announce authoritatively that they have reached truce with the in sergeant, yesterday, there was this release from the in is your generalities that they are denying that truce has been reached by the government, so it really shut out hope and it's very sad that we have found ourselves in this very moment.

it's really sad development to us. >> the body of president arrived back in zambia. he died undergoing treatment in london. the acting president was there to receive his casket. the body will lie in state ahead of his funeral, next week. >> still to come here, pro-russian separatists in eastern ukraine prepare to elect a leader and government but the vote is condemned by kiev and the west. >> why the key u.s. mid term elections not just a race between the democrats and republicans.

>> america votes 2014 midterms it's all come down to this... >> you are going to determine whether i'm going to be the next senator from iowa >> the candidates last chance to convince voters they're the one... they will stop at nothing to get your vote >> david young, how are you? >> run for congress >> it's important to be out here talking to voters >> director aj schnack's unprecedented series concludes >> it's certainly something that doesn't exist in politics on television >> america votes 2014 midterms only on al jazeera america

>> let's have a look at our top stories. kurdish peshmerga forces joined the fight against isil in the syrian town of kobane. they crossed the border from turkey on friday and are now helping the hundreds of syrian kurds, as well as other opposition fighters who are already there. >> burkina faso's army has backed lt. colonel add interim president. the president resigned and is now in the ivory coast. >> power is gradually being restored across bangladesh after a blackout left millions in the dark. the electricity outage happened when a transmission line from india failed. >> we've reported that now the

kurdish peshmerga forces from northern iraq have crossed into the syrian town of kobane. they've joined the fight against isil. we can talk to our correspondent right on the border between turkey and syria. we know he that the fight against isil in kobane has begun with the reinforcements from the peshmerga. >> indeed, yes, we've just come back from the border itself, and what we've witnessed throughout the day is sporadic fighting. the latest development has been that the peshmerga forces who entered kobane early saturday, later on friday, have started engaging isil in battle. the way in which we saw that was through fixed rockets fired off the back of pickup trucks,

fuselage type rockets being fired off the back of those pickup trucks. the amount of ammunition that came through, while significant, is the first of its kind coming from the iraq peshmerga forces, but not in huge quantities. we expect they will be used scarcely until they say what kind of results they yield. >> it's not the number of men he, is it? it's quite a small contingent that have joined the fight, exactly what they're taking with them, the weapons and material will make the difference. >> for sure that is something that many of those who have been fighting on the front line from the syrian kurdish gaps, as well as groups belonging to the free syrian army have been calling on for weeks, saying they need this type of heavy weaponry.

this is urban wear fair in the sense that isil as far as the in tell that has come through the different countries, as well as information from locals, they aren't staying put in one specific area. they move around in small groups, from building to building and therefore, wean with heavy weaponry, it is going to provide difficulty or prove rather difficult to fully push them out of the town. that's why a lot of those there are calling for more effective airstrikes from the u.s. led coalition, because while those airstrikes taking place, they have done little to quash that isil contingency there. they are expect that go more in tell from the sky will help them to achieve that goal. >> reporting live from very close to the border with syria, thank you. >> pro-russian accept in eastern ukraine are preparing to elect a

leader. some say the vote is an important step towards legitimacy, but residents are skeptical. >> the first gold medalist of the people's donetsk republic. less than year ago, they were regional teams of a united ukraine. >> times are hard right now. there are a lot of changes. i dream of the olympics. we hope we will become away recognized republic and it will be possible. >> it was part of a carefully choreographed campaign live on television, meant to signal that donetsk is on its way to tate hood. >> there is a more pressing reality toward the front line where people have nothing left but fear and misery. they live hidden away in dark, damp, underground bunkers. >> this shelter was built during

the second world war. it's cold and there's no sanitation. >> this is where we sleep, and here there is a sick man. go in, don't be scared. he hasn't come out of there for three months. >> this man had a stroke recently. he asked for medicine, and says that all the aid is going to the fighters. >> 22 people have lived here for months. they haven't received pensions. others come and go, depending on the fighting. >> the sound of war is ever-present here. hopes of a lasting ceasefire dwindle with each bullet and shell fired. there's also fatigue among the fighters. >> maybe after the election, they will be intelligent enough to end this fight. six months ago, it was one country. we didn't hate each other. now people hate us. i hope our government will find a compromise, but i doubt it.

>> the front runner for the leader ship promises to build a new state and expand its borders. >> i suppose a political and peaceful solution, but we are ready for any action and i am not afraid. this is our land. we need to live in a single state. >> for those living these dark days, the question of ukraine or a new donetsk people's republic doesn't matter that much anymore. >> as long as they return living above ground, she says. >> verge galacti virginia galaco move forward despite a crash in the california desert on friday. one pilot was killed and another injured. richard branson, the founder of virgin groups said lessons will

be learned from the tragedy. >> we've always noun it is an incredibly hard project. we've been undertaking a comprehensive testing program for many years and safety has and see been our number one priority. this is the biggest test program in aviation history, precisely to make sure this never happens to the public. >> there is an investigation into the crash. >> this was a test flight and test flights are typically very well documented in terms of data and we may get some video feed. we may have lots of evidence that will help us with the investigative process. we appreciate that. that will make our jobs simpler and make us able to find out not only what happens but more importantly why it happened so we can make recommendation to say prevent it happening again.

>> it's the final weekend of campaigns in the u.s. mid term elections. the republicans are favored to take control of both houses of congress, which would make life rather difficult for president obama, but the polls showed poor ratings for both major parties. other groups and independents have really struggled to capitalize as rob reynolds now explains. >> americans say they are fed up with democrats and republicans, dominating politics for over a century and a half. that's evident in the polls and on the streets. >> local parties, i feel disenfranchised, like i don't know which one really speak to say me or represents me accurately, my concerns. >> i think i probably am in line with most of america, you know, frustrated at the gridlock. >> voters want more choices. a survey by gallup in september show 60% of americans say they

need a third party. >> i think there should always be other parties to choose from, just because, you know, it's a democratic society. >> more choices in the mix will go a long way. >> yet there are more than just two parties in the mix and this politician going door to door is proof. >> hi, i'm michael feinstein, former mayor, ready for city council. >> michael feinstein is running for city council in santa monica, california, a city where he once served as mayor. >> the media covers us as a feature story or spoiler to a system that is already spoiled. when you're trapped into a choice of chuting the lesser of two evils, you end up with the evil of two lesses, becoming less and less representative. >> greens, lib about her tarns and other parties have fully thought out platforms and many serve in local government. yet when it comes to congress or the white house, they can't get a foot in the door. why? >> money is the mother's milk of

politics, and in today's political environment, with the cost of campaigning being what it is, with on overwhelming disgust with institutions, not only the major parties, but political parties as an institution, it's a long, hard, futile climb for third parties in this country. >> indications are both major political parties are losing clout. 42% of voters now describe themselves as independents, more than either republicans or democrats. yet, because of money, tradition and organization, the two main parties rule. >> i don't care for either of them and i believe in our country, but can't stand our government. >> the voters are as guilty as the media, as are politicians in allowing two monoliths to

control the political debate. >> as much as americans say they disdain their politicians and their parties, they appear for the time being, at least, to be stuck with the system they've got. aljazeera, los angeles. >> the south african authorities arrested two people in possession of more than 40-kilos of rhinoceros horn opinion the men were booked on to a flight to vietnam, transiting through johannesburg. there's a huge demand for rhino horns for decoration and supposed medical purposes, despite a lack of evidence that it actually is a healing agent. the rhino is one of the most endangered species on the planet. >> brazil's business capital is struggling to combat smog, now switching to battery powered buses. we have a report that city leaders hope the initiative could become a success model for the rest of the world.

>> it's another typical busy morning at the main bus terminal in the sao paulo suburbs. some will be riding in to work on an all electric battery powered public bus, one of several going through a trial run in sao paulo. the first of its kind to be put into operation in south america, only a small handful of cities around the world use them. >> it doesn't make pollution. it's faster and doesn't make noise. >> it runs entirely on rechargeable lithium eye i don't know batteries. four times a day, the buses quickly fueled up at this charging dock. >> there are more than 20,000 regular diesel powered buses like this in sao paulo, one of

the biggest fleets in the world. right now, less than 2% are battery powered, but if this experiment gross, it would not only have environmental, but economic benefits, as well. >> in cities like sao paulo, losing morn 10% of the city g.d.p. just because of congestion, so therefore providing better solutions and designing that from the beginning on in a better way. lots of cities can learn. >> city officials remain optimistic on prospects but say they first have to prove it can work on a small scale. >> this is a bus that is perfect from an environmental and performance pint of view. we are collecting financial data to see if it will permit us to do this with more buses. >> it's a small step but perhaps

with big ramifications for the environment. aljazeera, sao paulo. >> you can keep up to date with all the day's developments and other major stories on the aljazeera website, aljazeera.com. ♪ suwell, a feeling is not a fact. our country is almost unique in people believing that global warming is not a human cause. >> robert kennedy, jr., a lifelong advocate of the environmental movement thanks in part to memories of his dad prior to his father's assassination in 1968. >> my father considered this part of our heritage and our purple mountains' majesty. kennedy says those whons